{
  "abstract": "Supraglacial lakes are widespread on Himalayan debris-covered glaciers, yet their drainage, including glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), remains sparsely observed. Based on field surveys, remote sensing analysis, and interviews with local residents, we documented two exceptional supraglacial GLOFs that occurred along the China–Nepal border near Mt. Xixabangma in 2025, resulting in severe transboundary impacts. On 7 July 2025, a giant supraglacial lake (0.64 ± 0.02 km 2 in area, 11.8 × 10 6 m 3 in volume) on the Nielangpu Glacier, 24 km upstream of Nyalam county, drained through an englacial conduit following the hydrofracture of its ice dam, releasing ∼3.84 × 10 6 m 3 of water over ∼30 h. Inefficient englacial drainage produced a low-magnitude GLOF that caused no measurable downstream river channel erosion, nor damage to settlements. Tragically, On 8 July 2025, a second supraglacial GLOF occurred on the Purepu Glacier, located 16 km northwest of Nielangpu. This lake of comparable size (0.68 ± 0.03 km 2 , 9.09 × 10 6 m 3 ) released ∼7.22 × 10 6 m 3 of water within ∼35 h. The high-energy outflow initially traveled over the glacier surface and a downstream gorge, triggering an extreme hydrological response. Severe loss of life, infrastructure damage, and channel erosion were caused by this event, and inland transportation between China and Nepal was disrupted. Both the failed lakes were at least an order of magnitude larger than typical Himalayan supraglacial lakes. Their formation and eventual outburst reflect the combined influence of short-term weather forcing and longer-term climatic drivers, probably acting through glacier-wide differential ablation, tributary-induced dynamic blocking, perturbed englacial drainage networks, rapid meltwater impoundment, and powerful hydrofracturing. A full understanding of these unprecedented GLOF mechanisms highlights the urgent need to strengthen supraglacial lake monitoring and pertinent risk management within existing frameworks.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Big Science Center, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China",
    "State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China",
    "Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China",
    "Department of Science and Mathematics, Deree—The American College of Greece, Athens 15342, Greece",
    "Division of Energy, Environment and Society, University of Dundee, Dundee DD14HN, UK",
    "UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, University of Dundee, Dundee DD14HN, United Kingdom",
    "School of Geography and water@leeds, University of Leeds, Leeds LS29JT, UK",
    "Water Resources Bureau of Nyalam County, Lhasa 850011, China",
    "Lhasa Earth System Multi-Dimension Observatory Network, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lhasa 850032, China"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 12,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Taigang Zhang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8919-2023"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Weicai Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1352-6303"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Nitesh Khadka",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0454-6652"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Ioannis Kougkoulos",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5001-2961"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Simon J. Cook",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1532-6532"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Cameron Scott Watson",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2656-961X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yang Gao",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5607-9449"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sheng-Hai LI"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Xiao YANG"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        8,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zhongyan Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2967-719X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        8,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Bao-Sheng An"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tonghao Yao"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fktqkepn832yg.bib",
  "cited_by": 6,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.022",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "fktqkepn832yg",
  "issns": [
    "1674-9278",
    "2524-1761"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.022",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1902|Cryospheric studies and observations"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7166541033",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-06-29",
  "publisher": "KeAi",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fktqkepn832yg.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T13:21:15Z",
      "native_id": "W7166541033",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.022"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:1902|Cryospheric studies and observations",
      "subfield": "atmospheric"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Transboundary outburst floods from giant supraglacial lakes over the Himalayan China–Nepal border",
  "title_text": "Transboundary outburst floods from giant supraglacial lakes over the Himalayan China–Nepal border",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:19Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fktqkepn832yg",
  "venue": "Advances in Climate Change Research",
  "versions": []
}